“We have the M855A1, essentially a brand new 5.56 ammunition that we currently use in the fight today in Afghanistan. It provides incredible increased lethality over the normal 855 round, and the amount of lethality that it provides gets it very close to a 7.62 in terms of capability. Since the early days of the Iraq war, when you used to hear [that U.S. troops would] pull the trigger and…they'd keep coming -- with this round that essentially stops that. When you hit someone with this round they essentially go down.”

— Army Lieut. General William Phillips, military deputy to the Army’s top weapons-buyer, at a recent congressional hearing.

This is something new to the Army? I hate to think how many of my friends came back from Vietnam complaining that the 5.56 mm round used in the M-16 lacked stopping power. Yes, it will kill people but it lacks the punch to knock them down. They can still throw a gernade or shoot back.

Why did it take until the Iraq invasion in 2003 for the brass to fgure this out? Is it because the M-16 looks neat and they didn't want to mess with it?